December sits differently this year. Artists are peeling back layers instead of piling them on, trading the usual year-end bombast for something quieter and more necessary.
This week’s selections share that same instinct. Whether it’s Welsh independence reclaimed or Brooklyn grit softened into melody, these six tracks feel like artists choosing honesty over hype.
Some are reassessing heartbreak, others are sorting through jealousy and faith and what happens when you fall too fast. What ties them together isn’t genre but timing. Right now, stripping things back feels like the bravest move anyone can make.
Liston
American artist Liston works alone in the best possible way. On Night Drives, he writes, produces and performs every element himself, building something that feels both intimate and expansive.
The track centres on self-worth and rediscovering emotional ground after relationships fold, delivering reassurance through soulful vocals that never oversell the message.
Delicate piano threads through warm, uncluttered production that justifies the title perfectly. This is music for solitary journeys, literal or otherwise.
Liston’s approach sidesteps typical alternative artist tropes by keeping things understated. Where others might lean into drama, he opts for restraint. The result lands with more weight than volume could ever achieve.
Start with: “Night Drives”
Hannah Grae
Port Talbot’s Hannah Grae just made the most important decision of her young career. After leaving Atlantic Records and relocating from London back to Wales, Bitch marks her first independent release. It’s also the first time she sounds entirely like herself.
The 23-year-old pulls from 90s alt-pop touchstones but avoids pastiche, creating something that splits the difference between The Cranberries’ melodic bite and Olivia Rodrigo’s confessional directness.
What makes Bitch stick is its willingness to admit ugly truths about jealousy and comparison without dressing them up. Grae’s always been dramatic and self-aware in equal measure, but this is the first track where those qualities feel completely aligned.
Co-written with Hunter West and produced by Dylan Bauld, it confirms that sometimes the only way forward is stepping back to where you started.
Start with: “Bitch”
Sadie Jean
Sadie Jean’s debut album Early Twenties Torture documents the specific hell of relationships that almost worked.
The 22-year-old Californian, now based in New York, has built her sound around confessional songwriting that refuses to tidy up the mess.
Across twelve tracks, she examines almost-love with the kind of forensic detail that makes you wonder if you’ve accidentally stumbled into someone’s therapy notes.
Her vocals carry a Joni Mitchell-adjacent fragility, but the production keeps things contemporary without ever feeling glossy.
Tracks like I Tried and Move On First capture the particular pain of mourning both a person and the version of yourself you became trying to keep them. This isn’t music for getting over something. It’s music for sitting with it until you can finally let go.
Start with: “I Tried”
Sondae
Brighton’s Sondae operates in the space where faith meets doubt and R&B meets everything else. On LOVER, he explores reconnection with something (or someone) that once burned bright but now sits just out of reach.
His Cape Verdean and Portuguese background informs how he structures rhythm, pulling Bossa Nova’s sway into contemporary R&B’s slower tempos whilst keeping one foot in worship music’s transcendent aims.
Fresh from winning Pop Song of the Year at the StepFWD Awards for Take Over Me, Sondae refuses to stay in one lane.
LOVER plays its romantic and spiritual tensions without spelling either out, building gauzy, Neptunes-adjacent production that shifts temperature as his vocals arrive.
With over 250 million streams and an upcoming album BOY due in December, he’s proving faith-inspired music doesn’t need to sound like anything except itself.
Start with: “LOVER”
Lola Brooke
Brooklyn’s Lola Brooke just released the Invest visualiser from her iight bet! EP, and it confirms what her platinum-certified breakout Don’t Play With It only hinted at: she can do more than just go hard.
Featuring N3WYRKLA, Invest showcases a melodic, R&B-leaning side that feels natural rather than calculated.
Brooke’s always had range, but this track proves she can slide into smoother pockets without losing the intensity that made people pay attention in the first place.
The seven-track EP balances street anthems with vulnerability, showing an artist in full command of when to punch and when to pull back.
Critics from BET to Essence have already flagged iight bet! as essential listening. Invest makes it clear why.
Start with: “Invest (feat. N3WYRKLA)”
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